When Chandra McCoy first came to work for the City of Fort Morgan in 2014 as the library/museum educator, she was charged with getting a makerspace program started.

She now is the director of library and museum services for the city, and that program is finally ready to reach its full potential.

"It's really exciting to see it coming together," she said of the Makerspace Room in the Education Center downstairs next to the museum's Lower Level Gallery. "We have all the stations complete, but the nice thing about makerspace is it can always be evolving. We can add new ones or swap out stations."

A young boy tries to figure out how to use and play the Laser Maze game that is available in the Makerspace Room at Fort Morgan Library & Museum. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

The point is to offer a space where learning about science, technology, engineering and math topics is encouraged through building, playing and trying out the possibilities, McCoy explained.

And at least 31 children and their parents have already gotten to see and try out those stations at an event held last Tuesday evening, with Educator Sara Reichert overseeing things as people got a chance to try out anything they saw in the Makerspace Room.

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Reichert said she was thrilled to have so many people show up and get involved that night.

"There's definitely some interest," McCoy agreed. "It seems like the community is really wanting places to take children for hands-on learning. So we're really happy to be able to provide that. I think what we have to gauge is when are the best times to have the Makerspace Room open."

Right now, the plan is for it to be open from 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting this Monday, when a grand opening will be held. A staff member will be there during that time to guide people as needed and operate the 3-D printer, which has proven quite popular since the city got it and started offering community use of it.

That 3-D printer is only one of the technological marvels available in the Makerspace Room. There also are smart phones for using virtual reality apps, various robotics and engineering kits and toys, a lot of games and a large supply of crafting materials.

A boy attempts to solve math problems in a game on the videogame table in the Makerspace Room at Fort Morgan Library & Museum. The boys also played tic-tac-toe and a car racing game on the table. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

"We're very lucky we have what we have," McCoy said of the equipment and supplies accumulated in the Makerspace Room, which continues to serve as the library/museum's Education Center and an office for Reichert. "We've had a lot of things donated, and we had a lot of things in storage in the Children's Library that were used for programs and that we've brought up here. The majority of the items that are in here that we did have to purchase were funded by means of memorial donations."

The Makerspace Room definitely benefited from contributions from the Jack Miller Memorial Fund, McCoy said, since his wife "specifically asked that it be used for STEM activities."

Also, some of the remaining friends from the now-dissolved Friends of the Fort Morgan Library were used on Makerspace supplies, according to McCoy.

"But a lot of the items we already had," she said.

For example, something that migrated to the Makerspace Room from the Children's Library was the old "exploration kits" that feature topics like history, dinosaurs, pioneers and more.

"Those are fun kits, but everything is so standards-based now" that they are not what teachers want the library staff to use and present, McCoy explained. Instead, they now can be available for children and parents to use and explore in the Makerspace Room if they choose.

And there could be other things in store for the community and how the Makerspace Room will be used, she said.

"One thing we really want to do in here is not just focus on the library, but also on the museum," McCoy said, with plans to hold some museum-related interactive programs in the Makerspace Room.

McCoy said she and Reichert and IT Coordinator Lanny Page had spent a lot of time over the summer getting the Makerspace Room set up.

And just because the Makerspace Room's stations are set up now, that does not mean new things will not be added, McCoy said.

"We'll keep adding as budget allow," she said, "and we'll keep listening to people about what kinds of things they'd like to see in here."

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